Petco should not sell coral.

[Phil D.]

M

Was that the one on Broadway?

yup!

 

[Fishbird]

I suspect part of the issue with some Petcos and some LFSs is wages and benefits. There are threads every week here where people complain about the prices of things, and threads every other week where people complain about the lack of knowledge held by LFS and Petco employees. But it’s going to be very hard to keep lots of highly skilled knowledgeable people around for years at a time if the jobs don’t provide pay and benefits that could, say, support somebody with a family. I have no idea what individual stores pay of course. But I used to work in a similar specialized retail store and people would flip out if we sold something that wasn’t made in America and then if the item was made in America they’d flip out because it was so expensive. I’m not in that job anymore because of the (lack of) pay and benefits and I am getting a graduate degree in the field. It wasn’t every customer that would get mad but enough people would that it was pretty uncommon.

We can’t have stores with skilled, knowledgeable, helpful employees, quality livestock held in good conditions, and for hard goods, things manufactured in the USA (for those in the USA who want to support jobs), while *also* having cheap prices, and as long as so much of the country (again speaking from the perspective of somebody living in the US) views retail jobs as jobs for kids or people in college/temporary jobs or lazy people or not smart people or unmotivated people etc...

 

[Huenemedoe]

I 100% think that Petco SHOULD sell coral and other marine life. However, not in the manner they are currently doing it. It is absolutely terrible now. The worst thing about it is Petco sold corals right it would bring so many new people into the hobby.

They really need to create more development opportunities for their staff that would properly educate them in the areas of the store they would like to work. Say if you wanted to be a supervisor in the aquatic section of the store, you would have to go to a “Petco university” for a mandatory two weeks of education. If they did something like this, it might even make working at Petco “cool” again, elevate the culture and return Petco to reliable source of knowledge for pet keepers of all kinds.

Sorry for the rant, but it makes me so sad to the waisted opportunity of what Petco has become.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Double monti 61]

Do not blame the retailer for the problems that you have with your corals put some effort in to trying to keep them alive!

 

[Fourstars]

the

Give me a break!

 

[NashobaTek]

Back when Petco first came to my home town ( 30+ years ago ), they had a great store . Their biggest draw was the 1000 gallon reef tank right in the entrance to the store. Within a couple years it was looking bad and they finally removed it.
I think if they took the time to train employees and provide a decent pay along with benefits, ( considering the money they rake in from sales ) they would have a better saltwater section and probably even freshwater.

 

[Caseyoidae]

I have a halfway decent Petco near me and they sell corals that are pretty healthy. Even the occasional Acropora like Ora red planet. I also have one near me that is pretty bad. They have a frag rack that is usually just empty plugs lol they need to pay someone enough to care!

 

[Ashish Patel]

Petco take the benefit out of Aquaculture clownfish once they add them to their systems. I mean how difficult would it be to run some copper at a low dose.

 

[Tamberav]

There is a nice Petco I saw in MN with healthy fish and a dedicated frag tank that had proper flow and lighting. It even had ORA acro's in it that had good color

 

[Johnnynle]

My local Petco and the only Petco I’ve seen with a decent and well cared for saltwater section. The guys that took care of it are hobbyists though.

 

[Spare time]

Petco should not sell half of the things they do, such as coral, birds, cats, etc. Too many highly abused animals and ones at shelters and such. Parrots on average change homes every 4 or 5 years from my understanding and have incredible emotional intelligence and bonds but they toss them around like beta fish.

 

[Fezbearer]

My local doesn’t sell SW, but I’ve been leery of Petco since I saw them selling a conure that was suffering from neurological issues.

 

[Cell]

There is a nice Petco I saw in MN with healthy fish and a dedicated frag tank that had proper flow and lighting. It even had ORA acro's in it that had good color

Petco Minnetonka. Jason is one of the good ones.

 

[fish farmer]

I suspect part of the issue with some Petcos and some LFSs is wages and benefits. There are threads every week here where people complain about the prices of things, and threads every other week where people complain about the lack of knowledge held by LFS and Petco employees. But it’s going to be very hard to keep lots of highly skilled knowledgeable people around for years at a time if the jobs don’t provide pay and benefits that could, say, support somebody with a family. I have no idea what individual stores pay of course. But I used to work in a similar specialized retail store and people would flip out if we sold something that wasn’t made in America and then if the item was made in America they’d flip out because it was so expensive. I’m not in that job anymore because of the (lack of) pay and benefits and I am getting a graduate degree in the field. It wasn’t every customer that would get mad but enough people would that it was pretty uncommon.

We can’t have stores with skilled, knowledgeable, helpful employees, quality livestock held in good conditions, and for hard goods, things manufactured in the USA (for those in the USA who want to support jobs), while *also* having cheap prices, and as long as so much of the country (again speaking from the perspective of somebody living in the US) views retail jobs as jobs for kids or people in college/temporary jobs or lazy people or not smart people or unmotivated people etc...

You hit many good points.

I feel the same way. If "aquatic biology/vet science" was looked at as a viable career choice, then there would be more knowledgeable staff, of course the pet corporations should be making that mandatory of their staff and financially enticing for the employees.

I see similar threads from time to time about young people wanting to go into the field of aquatic biology, even on this forum I've seen smart young minds redirected to work where the money is verses opening a LFS/aquaculture operation.

I work at a state run trout hatchery, full bennies, unionized, making around $60,000 a year and been working the same job for 23 years and I needed a 4 year science degree plus experience to land this job in 1996...starting pay back then was around $10 an hour. I'm not complaining but I don't have a Ferrari in the garage....I don't even have a garage.

Most if not all of our upper management have fisheries/wildlife backgrounds as well, it's pretty much a requirement for employment.

 

[Paulie069]

I have never seen a piece of live healthy coral at any petco I have been to.

Don’t know where you live but I’m in jersey and the Petco near me actually does great job with its stock n care and the guy who is in charge of it is really informative

 

[Everything Aquatics]

I have noticed that there are some petcos that are ok and some that are really bad

 

[Tl02022020]

My local petco is decent with SW. They went through a phase a few years ago where they had a ton of different fish, coral, inverts. But, the tanks were crowded with fish that shouldn't have been housed together and they had some odd choices like pinnatus batfish that are cool, but not a good choice for the vast majority of Petco shoppers. At the same time their FW section was filled with 'tankbusters' that people buy when they don't know better. Redtail catfish, Bala sharks, etc. Turns out the person in charge of aquatics was a hobbyist but didn't have a lot of sense. Ordered things that were 'cool', not necessarily appropriate. Now, things have changed and they don't seem to have anything like that. Mostly just a few frags and tank raised clowns, damsels, little gobies, etc. The tanks are kept in good shape and things mostly look healthy.

 

[Bosreef]

Just went to my local petco and the whole aquarium section is shut down.....

So weird that a corporate brand does not follow standards... you would think you go into any petco and they are going to have a fish section. Well this one did, I dont know what happened no signage and I didn't bother to ask.

 

[monti mike]

Petco Minnetonka. Jason is one of the good ones.

Yep! That’s where I got my orange lobo! I’ve only had good experiences at this store. It’s not the typical Cyanobacteria swamp you see at others

 

[fcmatt]

So basically petco has the same rate of success as hobbyists do in general? Most fail after a short time, some have a modicum of success, and a few can actually keep their critters alive for several plus years? Did I just summarize petco and hobbyists ok when looking at individual stores and people?

Petco could very well be the reason many of us are here now. And it is not like lfs are the model of the aquarium world as we all know...